Destruction in Gaza Represents Hamas 'Victory'

 

"According to information provided by the Red Cross, seven hostages, including an Israeli male and female hostage and five foreign nationals, were handed over to it and are making their way to the IDF and [Israel Security Agency] forces in the Gaza Strip."

"[The seven returnees have] now crossed the border into Israeli territory with IDF and ISA forces."

Israeli military report  Jan30.25

Arbel Yehoud, 29, held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since October 7, 2023, surrounded by Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists as she is handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025. Photo by Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

Chaos reigned with the release yesterday of three more Israeli hostages and five Thai farm workers who were also taken hostage during the invasion on October 7, 2023 in southern Israel of thousands of Palestinian terrorists led by Hamas. The Thursday handover saw masked Hamas gunmen in uncomfortably close proximity to the hostages as they prepared to hand them over to the International Committee of he Red Cross for transfer to the Israel Defense Forces. Surrounding the terrorists were thousands of raucous, threatening Palestinian men shouting abuse at Arbel Yehound as she was on the cusp of freedom.

Seven of the eight hostages were released symbolically in front of the destroyed home of Gaza's Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, killed in an IDF bombing raid months ago. This gesture was named by the Hamas leadership as a "message of determination", no doubt linked to their having declared 'victory' and a resumption of their control and governance of Gaza with the declaration of the temporary ceasefire which they demand be made permanent on the condition of releasing the remaining 90-some-odd hostages still in their hands, a third of whom are no longer living.

 

Female Israeli soldier Agam Berger surrounded by Hamas terrorists as she is released as part of an agreement between Israel and Hamas during a temporary ceasefire.  Reuters

 

Agam Berger, age 20, the first hostage to be released, had been paraded before a crowd in the largely destroyed urban Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. A demonstration of Hamas power; a young Israeli soldier on lookout duty at the Gaza border with Israel. The other seven were released in Khan Younis where hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists in a convoy delivered the hostages, amongst thousands of Palestinians who had assembled to witness the exchange.

Palestinian civilians rushed to crowd around the hostages, hemming them within a flood of threatening menace. Hostage Arbel Yehoud appeared stunned as she was hustled through the shouting mob by masked terrorists. Gadi Moses, 80-year-old Israeli, and Thai farm labourers were also guided through the throngs of Palestinians shouting abuse, to the waiting ICRC vehicles. 

Soon afterward Israel released the agreed-upon 110 Palestinian prisoners whose freedom included 30 serving life sentences for deadly attacks against Israelis; seven of whom were permitted return to the West Bank, the rest transferred to Egypt prior to further deportation. Former leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Zakaria Zabeidi, flashed a victory sign. He had been convicted of terror offences involved in the deaths of 6 Israelis.

Dozens of hostages remain in the hands of the Palestinian terrorists, many held by Palestinian civilians in concert with Hamas. The ceasefire arranged for the distinct purpose of freeing Israelis and others from Hamas captivity occasioned an opportunity for Hamas to declare a great victory over Israel. Returning Gazans hoping to resume their normal lives in their residences may feel when they finally view the wreckage of all that was once familiar to them, as not much of a victory and perhaps lead them to consider Hamas's victory their personal disaster.

 

Reacting to hostage release agreement ... Reuters

 

A Conundrum of Obesity in Canada's Armed Forces

Canadian soldiers get ready to leave Camp Julien in Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov. 29, 2005. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP

"I think DND [Department of National Defence] was hiding the records because they're embarrassed."

"This is information that people have a right to know and information of consequence. Is the military fighting fit or not?"

"DND claimed it had no such records even though the briefings clearly have a DND and Canadian Forces logo on them."

Researcher Ken Rubin

"CAF [Canadian Armed Forces] surveys also study eating patterns, barriers to  healthy eating, and chronic conditions."

"BMI at the population level is a practical and useful tool, especially to compare data over time, even if it has limitations."

"[The Canadian Forces does not track data] on the number of members who have been subject to administrative action or release in relation to physical fitness issues that may cause medical employment limitations."

"An administrative review determines the most appropriate action, if any, to deal with the matter, and is  conducted in a transparent manner with a focus on procedural fairness."

DND spokesperson Andree-Anne Poulin

Sixty-eight per cent of Canadian men were considered obese or overweight, while that rate was 78 per cent for men in the military, according to Canadian Forces briefings. Photo by Canadian Forces

In 1989 when the Canadian Armed Forces were at full staffing levels -- which they are not now at -- an interior study concluded that five percent of the 88,000 regular force was judged to be obese, and another 17 percent was considered to be overweight. At that time, 15 percent of Canadians were thought to  be obese, while 15 percent were seen to be overweight. Qualifying any serving member of a military as obese or overweight does not augur well for fitness to serve in combat roles in defence of their nation.

Fast forward to the present era, and what was seen as deplorable decades earlier seems in retrospect slight numbers of questionable fitness of individuals to serve in the military. As evidenced by shocking new data revealing that troops enlisted in the Canadian military have degenerated to the point where 72 percent of armed forces personnel fall into the categories of overweight and obese. Senior leaders were evidently warned of this increasing phenomenon of unhealthy fitness levels in the Forces in June 2024 contained in briefings warning that "Obesity prevalence has been slowly increasing for many years". 

One of the results of which has been an increase in sick days and medical releases, as well as reduced readiness and productivity in the pursuit of the profession. And this, at time when recruitment is at an historically low level. In the Canadian Armed Forces, today's reality is that forty-four percent are categorized as overweight, and 28 percent are classified as obese. Such briefings for leaders of the army, navy and airforce were not released to the public domain, but were revealed through applications to the Access to Information Act by Ottawa-based researcher Ken Rubin.

The Canadian Military, it transpires, has  higher rates of both overweight conditions and obesity than is prevalent in the general population. The briefings revealed that in comparison to the numbers of obesity and overweight in the military, for the general population, sixty-eight percent of Canadian men are considered obese or overweight in comparison to the 78 percent with those health conditions in the military. Embarrassing statistics which explain in part why they were never released for public scrutiny.

In the military, for example, 57 percent of women enrolled in the military are either overweight or obese, as opposed to women in the general population whose numbers in those categories total 53 percent. One report stated that "increasing physical activity levels will not resolve the challenges of obesity in the CAF". Military health specialists suggest the promotion of a culture of fitness through physical activity combined with injury prevention, adequate sleep and proper nutritional intake.

Mr. Rubin's request for data from the military through the Access to Information Act went unfulfilled; the response from the military was to inform the researcher that no such information existed. Finally, Mr. Rubin submitted  his request to the Canadian Forces Morale and Welfare Services, separate from DND, and from them he was able to obtain 141 record pages, including the briefs produced by DND on physical fitness in the ranks.

Short sleep duration (fewer than 6 hours) and borderline short sleep duration (6 hours to fewer than 7 hours) were independently associated with increased odds of obesity for male CAF members, but not for females. These results take into account differences in a range of other factors, including sociodemographic, work and health characteristics of CAF members.

Shorter-than-recommended sleep duration, poor sleep quality and obesity are concerns for long-term health, wellbeing and deployment readiness of the military population. Sleep has been identified as an important aspect of physical performance in both the CAF and the US military. Because sleep affects energy balance, eating and physical activity behaviours, it has been identified as a potential tool to aid in managing obesity. Longitudinal or intervention studies are needed to better understand the potential role of healthy sleep practices in obesity management, particularly in military populations.

Statistics Canada

Trans To The Barricades!!!

"[Service by troops who identify as a gender other than their biological one] conflicts with a soldier's commitment to an honourable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one's personal life [and is harmful to military readiness, requiring a revised policy to address the matter]."

U.S. President Donald J. Trump

"The law is very clear that the government can't base policies on disapproval of particular groups of people."

"That's animus, and animus-based laws are presumed to be invalid and unconstitutional."

Shannon Minter, legal director, National Center for Lesbian Rights

U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as he speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)

It took no time at all after the Presidential inauguration ceremonies, for President Trump to begin signing executive orders in alteration of many initiatives undertaken by the previous Biden administration. One of which was a return to his previous presidential order negating the military service of transgender people in the United States military. Most recently an executive order whose purpose was to direct incoming Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to look to revising the policy on transgender groups in the Pentagon. Inevitably leading to a ban on military service for transgenders in the United States.

This was, of course, an entirely expected move, much mentioned as a promise during President Trump's election campaign. In addition to which troops who had left the military of their own volition rather than accepting mandatory COVID 19 vaccinations (including those who had been drummed out of the military for the same reason), are to be reinstated. 

Advocacy groups anticipated the order and they lost no time in reacting, by opposing the order and launching lawsuits. The first of which w as set to be filed the day following the order. Legal teams had for years fought the Republican ban on transgender troops, dating from the first Trump administration. The Supreme Court at that time allowed the ban to take effect, irrespective of the fact that it was  still being brought before the courts. And when Joe Biden took the presidency, he scrapped the order.

Transgender people in the U.S. say they’re worried about what’s to come after President Donald Trump signed an executive order saying his government only recognizes two sexes that are assigned at birth. Still from video/CBC

The National Center for Lesbian Rights and GLAD Law are now filing a challenge to the executive order in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, while also challenging the executive order citing equal protection. No official data exists on transgender personnel serving in the U.S. military, but there is an informal number of some fifteen thousand.

The new executive order differs from the 2017 Trump administration ban, in that it not only bans all future transgender personnel from serving, but as well has the potential to target all current transgender troops, according to Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

"[We do not comment on pending or ongoing litigation but we] will fully execute and implement all directives outlined in the Executive Orders issued by the President, ensuring that they are carried out with utmost professionalism, efficiency, and in alignment with national security objectives."

Pentagon statement

The Cynical Hypocrisy of the International Community

"Relatively many people survived, which for example barely happened in sites which didn't have such a forced labour component."

"[As testimony to the past purpose of Auschwitz, maintaining the death camp as a memorial site has its value]: You have the gate [Arbeit Macht Frei], you have the wagon [transport]. You have the incredibly long railway platform which leads to the former crematoria and gas chambers."

Thomas Van de Putte, scholar specializing in Holocaust memory, King's College London

"I saw thousands of tortured people whom the Red Army had saved -- people so thin that they swayed like branches in the wind, people whose ages one could not possibly guess."

Boris Polevoy, Pravda correspondent, eyewitness to Soviet liberation of Auschwitz Jan.27, 1945

"This is the anniversary of liberation. We remember the victims, but we also celebrate freedom."

"It is hard to imagine the presence of Russia, which clearly does not understand the value of freedom."

Auschwitz Museum director Piotr Cywinski

The entrance gate to the former Nazi German concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz pictured on January 10.    Kacper Pempel/Reuters

 

The world is set to mark the 80th anniversary of the most dreadful mass atrocity that a country at war designed in an orgy of hatred against an ethnic population drawn from the countries of Europe whose citizenry included millions of diaspora Jews forced in antiquity from their ancestral homeland for exile abroad by a Roman occupation of the holy land that implacably put down an insurrection of Judean origin in a paroxysm of violence that millennia later was replicated with more modern and equally savage technological means of broader dimensions.

It is highly doubtful that Romans of the period felt it incumbent upon themselves to harvest the hair, skeletal remains, attire, gold dental fillings, marriage rings, to enrich themselves and produce stuffing for pillows, the production of soap from the remains of their victims as Nazi Germany felt disposed to do. The slaughter of children, women and men of all ages may be a casualty of war anywhere at any time when civilian populations bear the brunt of conflict that uproots and victimizes them in loss of home, necessities of life and life itself, but Nazi Germany brought its obsession with the extermination of Jews to a fine art.

This photo provided by Paris' Holocaust Memorial shows a German soldier shooting a Ukrainian Jew during a mass execution in Vinnytsia, Ukraine, sometime between 1941 and 1943. This image is titled "The last Jew in Vinnitsa", the text that was written on the back of the photograph, which was found in a photo album belonging to a German soldier

 

It took an orgy of mass dementia to organize round-ups, persuade populations that a nest of vipers lived amongst them that German authorities prepared to save them from, infesting those non-Jewish citizens with a suspicion and loathing of Jews they had lived among for centuries to convince them that the goal of extermination would make for a more refined, pure society once the presence of Jews was eliminated. People adapted nicely and deliberately turned their faces away from the putrid agonies of exclusion and humiliation their fellow Jewish citizens suffered, glad when they suddenly vanished into slave labour camps since out of sight, out of mind was a great relief,

Now, generations after the Holocaust for most people inhabiting our familiar world the memory of mass annihilation is beyond faint and growing fainter. Just as the thousands of Jews who managed miraculously to survive have grown old and are growing older, their witness status soon to fade itself, in and out of history. To be sure, others besides Jews died; political prisoners, Poles, Roma, Sinti, Soviet prisoners of war, homosexuals, but it was Europe's Jews that comprised the target focus.

 

This year, on the 80th anniversary memorializing the Holocaust, an estimated 50 survivors are expected to be present, and they will speak to the world once again of their loss, their ordeal, their endurance, their unforgettable memories. Two-thirds of the Jews of Europe perished in that orgy of hate and demonic destruction of human life. They were murdered in the death camps established all over Europe, places like Treblinka, Majdanek, Stutthof, Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Dachau, Mauthausen and Bergen-Belsen among a plethora of others. 

There were survivors at Auschwitz for the simple reason that though it was a death camp it also was a labour camp. Where those who survived the journey to Auschwitz in crowded train transports were separated on arrival into groups deemed sufficiently healthy to work, the others directed to groups who would enter the 'shower rooms' where they were gassed to death with Zyklon B, their remnants cremated in giant furnaces, their ashes belched out of massive chimneys to nurture the surrounding soil.

Presidents, royalty, ambassadors, politicians, rabbis and priests will be among those in attendance to memorialize the fixation of a nation and a continent on the destruction of a tiny ethnic/cultural/religious group that had lived among them for  generations, enriching those countries with their presence as artists, scientists, teachers, factory workers, lawyers, doctors, justices, soldiers, entertainment figures, industrialists, bankers and journalists, bakers and cobblers.

 

The royalty, presidents, ambassadors, politicians and priests of the time who failed to exert their moral outrage over the persecution, then the demonization, then the isolation, then the ghettoization, then the imprisonment and finally the murder of six million Jews were in a very real sense complicit with the perpetrators of the vast act of genocide. Their present day counterparts are in a very real sense not much different than those during the Holocaust who couldn't be moved to make an effort at prevention and deterrence.

The rising tide of antisemitism which bears such an uncanny resemblance to that of the 1930s and 1940s and the growing calls of accusations against a tiny Jewish state established in its ancestral geography to restore pride in Judaic heritage but above all to give strength to the cry of "Never Again!" by its pledge to protect and guide Jews into the future is once again under existential threat. Collegial nations of the West, supporters of the Jewish state, have managed to remain on the sidelines once again, leaving Israel and Jews to their own defense.

The ruins of the sprawling Birkenau site stretch far into the distance

Major Uncertainties in the Use of Puberty Blockers -- Canadian Research

"[Doctors should] clearly communicate [the major uncertainties that remain with children and parents and check] whose values they are prioritizing [when prescribing puberty blockers and masculinizing or feminizing hormones to youth]."

"We are very uncertain about the causal effect of the [drugs] on depression. Most studies provided very low certainty of evidence about the outcomes of interest, thus we cannot exclude the possibility of benefit or harm."

"Since the current best evidence, including our systematic review and meta-analysis, is predominantly very low quality, clinicians must clearly communicate this evidence to patients and caregivers."

"[Guideline developers and policymakers should also be transparent] about which and whose values they are prioritizing when making recommendations and policy decisions."

Report: Canadian research

 

According to a team of researchers in Canada, an absence of evidence on the efficacious use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones that have been increasingly seeing use on children presenting with gender dysphoria along with teens self-identifying as transgender amounts to medical dysfunction, potentially harming the futures of many of these children. Whether, for the time being, their use is helpful or harmful, cannot be discerned given the low certainty surrounding the issue and absence of research. 

When in doubt -- abstain, or make it quite clear that the prevalent use of cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers on the very young is fraught with uncertainty regarding future impact. A major British review that had been commissioned by the National Health Services of England found evidence questioning the safety and efficacy of puberty blockers for children with gender dysphoria to be weak, "built on shaky foundations".

As a result of the Cass Review's conclusion of doubt, doctors in the United Kingdom were instructed to stop routinely prescribing puberty blockers temporarily, to children and  youth under 18 years of age. More latterly, after independent expert advice concluded such drugs pose an "unacceptable safety risk" the ban became indefinite.

In Canada, however, no impact from the Cass Review has been seen in its gender-affirming approach, with the Canadian Paedriatric Society expressing criticism of what it terms "significant limitations, biases and inaccuracies" in the review, the result of a four-year enquiry. The CPS writing in its journal "The model of gender-affirming care in Canada differs in many ways from the approach that had been in place in the U.K".

According to a federally funded study, however, 174 children under 16 referred to one of ten gender-identity clinics in Canada saw 74 percent placed on puberty blockers, with close to two-thirds progressing to masculinizing or feminizing hormones.

"There's not enough reliable information."

"We really don't have enough evidence to say that these procedures are beneficial."

"Few studies have looked at physical harm, so we have really no evidence of harm as well."

"There's not a lot that we can say with certainty, based on the evidence."

Chan Kulatunga-Moruzi, an author of the review

Those who begin puberty blockers for the most part tend to progress to gender-affirming hormones which induce sex characteristics such as facial hair or breast enlargement. Giving children identifying as transgender time to decide whether to proceed to transition, while relaxing their feelings of distress over body changes that disturb them. Concerns relate to whether the drugs are locking in a gender identity --their transition becoming an inevitable expectation.

Although the process was initially thought to be fully reversible,  the potential seems to augur for long-term and irreversible effects -- according to the Canadian research team -- in their finding published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood. Screening 6,736 research titles involving puberty blockers, the study found low certainty of evidence on the effects of puberty blockers on depression, an oft-cited argument for their use on distressed youth.

"Since the current best evidence, including our systematic review and meta-analysis, is predominantly very low quality, clinicians must clearly communicate this evidence to patients and caregivers," researchers wrote. Photo by Getty Images

Student Visa Entitlements : Breaking the Law in Canada

"[If I am deported, it will mean that] many in my generation will be further disillusioned with the possibility of having their voices heard in Canada."

"[My treatment by Canadian authorities has been] Kafkaesque." 

"[With deportation, separation from my Canadian wife would be] devastating."

Pakistani national Zain Haq, 24, Canada student visa holder 

Climate activist Zain Haq who faces imminent deportation for nonviolent climate activism despite prior intervention by the minister of immigration, appears at a press conference in Vancouver, B.C. on January 20, 2025. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /10106969A

"Haq is not a violent criminal, and his mischievous convictions do not meet the legal threshold for serious criminality."

"He has made a lawful application for permanent residence as the spouse of a Canadian citizen, and he has properly applied to extend the temporary status that was granted to him in April."

"This deportation is entirely avoidable, resulting from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's [IRCC] inability to locate his application."

Haq lawyer Randall Cohn

"[Haq's environmental zeal was] laudable; [he is an] intelligent, motivated young person."

"[However, it is clear that Haq knew what he was doing]. He knowingly and deliberately broke the law and he did so fully aware of the consequences and the impact that his actions would have on innocent parties."

British Columbia Judge Reginald Harris

According to the terms of the student visa which enabled Pakistani national Zain Haq to enter Canada in 2019 he was expected to respect Canadian law. This he clearly did not do. And despite his student visa he failed to meet his academic requirements. As an international student he arrived in Canada with a pledge to abide by the law of the land. And once the terms of study were complete he was meant to leave the country. Standard visa privileges and obligations.

However, from 2021 forward Haq became, among other individuals, a central figure in disruptive illegal road blockades in the Vancouver area. In tallying up the damage from the blockades, Crown prosecutors spoke of tens of thousands of transit buses, delivery drivers and motorists snarled in traffic for hours while emergency vehicles were unable to access St. Paul's Hospital, and travellers missed their flights out of Vancouver International, the second-busiest airport in the country.

He had been barred as a result of earlier blockades from being present on the city's Cambie Street Bridge where he had earlier been arrested as well as having just been released from immigration detention just prior on condition he not organize any additional blockades. Nonetheless he violated those release conditions with yet another blockade. Finally facing a long-delayed deportation order he appealed the deportation at a press conference this week. His original deportation order was for April but a temporary stay came from someone in the Trudeau government.

Environmental groups with which he was allied in the blockades have come to his defence, as has the Green Party leader. The sentence meted out to Haq by B.C. judge Reginald Harris called for a light sentence in part because he is not a Canadian citizen, since judges are required to weigh the "potential immigration consequences" to foreign nationals, and to consider it as part of their overall punishment for a criminal conviction, explaining the 61-day house arrest.

The man was in the country on a prolonged basis through a temporary resident permit which he attempted to renew. His deportation order was reactivated when Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced his renewal application had never been received by the department. He is now scheduled for removal on January 25.

Green Leader Elizabeth May (left) and climate activist Zain Haq at a news conference on Monday. Haq faces imminent deportation. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNG

"Enough with this nonsense."

"If you come to British Columbia to study -- you shouldn't be breaking the law here."

"Deport him back to Pakistan."

B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad

DEI Permanently Inscribed at the Toronto District School Board

"The introduction of a mandatory certification on equity, diversity and anti-racism for all K-12 teachers in Ontario would ensure that teachers are better equipped to support racialized students and educators effectively"

"Ongoing professional development on equity and diversity will help ensure teachers are equipped with current best practices to further an inclusive classroom."

Toronto District School Board (TDSB) motion 

The school board of Canada's largest city has distinguished itself as representing the most passionate among all school boards in Canadian cities for permanently installing a life-and-values system in the education of the city's students that exemplifies the last word in commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion policies. And despite a loud blowback from parent groups and the outraged opposition to this commitment by many factions within the city the TDSB feels it has not sufficiently entrenched its program, to the effect that a committee within the board voted to forward a request to the provincial government making DEI certification mandatory for educators.

 

Academic performance among students in the TDSB has deteriorated at an alarming rate of late under a curriculum that has been socially politicized; basic education has been eviscerated in favour of focusing on woke values that have nothing whatever to do with delivering and acquiring an education preparatory to producing the next generation of intelligent, civil and engaged adults to enter the workforce as responsible members of society.

This, even as society is moving steadily away from the always-controversial Critical Race Theory, 'woke' agenda that has become the signature of the progressive left, sponsored in part by the federal government under Justin Trudeau's Liberals, trickling down to lower-scale governments, unions, academia, corporate interests, driven by a liberal-left that has demonized and scorned antediluvian attitudes expressed in rejection of transmania, light sentencing of criminality, 'safe' injection sites, assisted suicide -- all dressed in the mantle of a kindler, gentler society. 

A kinder, gentler society where by sheer coincidence, Canadian Jews have been aggressively hounded, threatened and isolated in consequence of a drive by Canadian Muslim groups aided and funded by foreign interests to mount virulent anti-Israel campaigns seeking to delegitimize and demonize a nation fighting back against Islamist Palestinian terrorist attacks threatening to destroy the tiny Jewish state in an orgy of rape, murder and abductions, portrayed through a Jew-hating campaign as aggressors of victimized Palestinians.

The TDSB found merit in allying itself with these groups, just as labour unions and university boards, teaching staff and students have been persuaded by Islamist Jew-haters among them to harass and threaten Jewish members of their organizations. At a time when the general public has become sufficiently fed up with loud and threatening demonstrations by 'activist' groups, a majority of Canadians responding to polls reject and oppose diversity quotas as divisive, hostile and bullying.

Private companies and public institutions alike are moving away from hiring quotas and support of divisive activist groups promoting DEI ideals. Influential large corporations like Walmart, McDonald's, Ford and Meta are among major companies reversing their own DEI programs. Yet there is the TDSB proposing and asking the province to make it mandatory for teachers to undergo DEI certification before entering a classroom, and to ensure that this becomes standard throughout the province.

 

The Toronto District School Board’s head office on Yonge Street in Toronto, Ont. on Jan. 15. Gabe Oatley/TorontoToday

The decision to remove auditions and applications based on merit and use random selection to specialized art, music, math, science and sport programs at the TDSB came as a result of anti-black racism and equity initiatives.

Through the board’s Centre of Excellence — which was added in 2021-22 at a cost of $2.3-million a year — specialized camps, basketball programs and mentorships have been offered to black students only.

These anti-racism initiatives saw the removal of student resources officers — specialized cops — in the board’s schools and eliminated consequences for bad behaviour, most specifically suspensions and expulsions.

As a result, some TDSB schools have become war zones.

Sue-Ann Levy, True North

Placement of Homeless Shelters in Urban Toronto

629 Adelaide St. W., which Toronto plans to use as a 50-bed emergency shelter with estimated operating and leasing costs of $45 million over 10 years. It is close to St. Mary’s Catholic Elementary School. Photo by Peter J. Thompson/National Post

"If you're wondering what it's like to live in Toronto..."

"[Instead of] assuring the neighbourhood their concerns would be heard [Mayor Olivia Chow] bemoaned the fact that the neigbourhood had been tipped off! These things are supposed to be secret, so no one can oppose them!"

"Our community is frustrated by the complete lack of communication with the city."

"We would like to have our concerns heard and know the risks involved. What we have right now, through, is crickets."

"Our community understands the need for homeless shelters. This is not up for debate. It is important, however, that when choosing the site for a new shelter, it has to work for both the residents of the community where it is located, and the people who will be using the shelter."

Jennifer Hedger, Scarborough, Ontario

"People are demanding to be heard."

"They think it's incredibly unfair that they are having this decision undemocratically forced on them."

"They're not saying don't do this. What they're saying is give us a seat at the table."

"They're concerned about safety."

Kevin Vuong, Area Member of Parliament

Montreal’s École Victor-Rousselot is just down the street from Maison Benoit Labre transitional housing and inhalation centre. Photo by John Mahoney/MONTREAL GAZETTE

In the larger of Canadian cities such as Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Ottawa the demand for beds has soared owing to a skyrocketing increase in immigrants seeking refugee status. Just as their presence has become a weight on all social services while their sheer numbers impact deleteriously on the need to focus on the plight of Canadians who have fallen on hard times, the need to further provide illegal migrants invoking refugee haven in Canada has placed unsupportable stress on already-overworked and inadequate homeless shelters. 

In 2024, a quarter of a million people entered Canada to apply for refugee status, some 20 times the number for all of 2014. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) released The Shelter Safety Study revealing, among other issues that the annual number of incidents of interpersonal violence taking place in Toronto shelters had increased by 293 percent between 2011 and 2021, at a time when daily service users increased by 66 percent. In addition, incidents including violence rose from about 2,000 per year in 2011 to 10,000 in 2021.

An estimated half of the unhoused population in Toronto struggles with a substance use disorder, compelling reason for the city to be upfront with residents and business owners on where planning for shelter placements are set for, before they become a fait accompli, to be absolutely fair to  nearby residents who learn to their dismay through a grapevine, and not consultation or official statements that their neighbourhoods are slated to host homeless shelters ... and all too often in close proximity to schools.

Toronto’s 25 Augusta Ave. St. Felix Respite Centre gained international attention when a mother of three posted videos of the open drug use and graphic violence her young family was witness to. Photo by Peter J. Thompson/National Post

A troubling lack of transparency and the city's documented inability to follow through on its commitment to see that the facilities are well managed and don't present as a danger to residents makes residents extremely and understandably upset, sending them in droves to confront city officials, demanding accountability. The unsettling situation isn't Toronto's alone. Hundreds of residents gathered at Richmond, British Columbia's city hall protesting a proposed injection site they were told nothing about, to be placed in their neighbourhood.

In Montreal, a coalition came together when parents, residents and businesses found themselves blindsided with news of a building under construction meant to be used as a shelter with a supervised injection component. Located a mere few metres from a fenced-in park used for recesses and lunch breaks by an adjacent elementary school.

 

In November 2024, Kanata residents in Ottawa’s west end protested plans to erect “sprung structures” — giant platformed tents — at a park-and-ride lot. Photo by Ashley Fraser/Postmedia News

The Ottawa suburb of Kanata saw protests against the plan by the city to erect a series of sprung structures" (giant platformed tents) at a local commuter park-and-ride for the purpose of accommodating asylum seekers. Residents complained that no community consultation had taken place prior to the announcement. In Peterborough, Ontario the Police Chief stated his force would no longer encourage drug users to relocate to the injection site; henceforth anyone caught using illicit substances outside of the site would be subject to search, their drugs seized, and they possible arrests.

In Scarborough, east Toronto, residents concerned of safety learned through a tip-off, that a respite centre was meant to be placed on one side of the St.Mary's Catholic Elementary School, and a supervised injection site would be placed on the other side of the school. A situation that saw concentrated drug activity in the immediate area. "We see it already. We find needles and condoms at the school", complained one outraged parent. 

A representative of the Catholic school board who supervised three city schools stated: "There's no amount of community liaison you can do with these centres that stops the problems -- which is what children see". School custodians had to be trained to deal with needles, condoms and human waste. No choice was left eventually but to erect massive security fences. "The school is starting to look like a prison -- not super-max but definitely medium security."

Professor Michael MacKenzie whose work at McGill University in psychiatry and pediatrics studies "the trauma-informed treatment of mental health and addictions". He wrote a column titled "A case study on how not to build community trust", setting the record straight on what he and his neighbours close to a site had been experiencing: groups of people injecting drugs, assaults, a man with his pants down masturbating in front of a neighbour's window in broad daylight, and sex acts on the sidewalk.

A supervised injection site opened in 2017 near St. Mary’s Catholic Elementary School in Toronto, forcing the board to train staff to deal with needles, condoms and human waste and, eventually, erect tall security fences. Photo by Peter J. Thompson/National Post

"You think it's safe when a bullet comes flying out of one of these sites in Toronto to kill a mother?"

"You think it's safe to have people using heroin and crack and cocaine next to a playground?"

"[Supervised injection sites] They're drug dens. And they've made everything worse everywhere they've been done."

Leader of the Parliamentary opposition Conservative Party, Pierre Poilievre

 

Catering to the Demands of Antisemites Has Not Furthered Liberal Prospects

"I will unite every province and territory; business leaders and working people; and Canadians from every walk of life  and of every political conviction."

"Protest is important. We are a free country, and one of the great things about our country is that people are free to express dissenting points of view."

"But what is not OK ... is to get in the way of others, expressing their point of view and putting forward their position."

Liberal leader candidate Chrystia Freeland

Former finance minister Chrystia Freeland speaks at a press conference in Toronto on Sunday Jan. 19, 2025, as she kicks off her campaign to become the next Liberal party leader. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

 

That sentiment, one imagines -- that people are free to express dissenting points of view, but not to interfere with the protests in respect of their rights of free expression -- is the reason why antisemitism and its free expression in a variety of public fora, is not interfered with by intervention  of government authority at any level; above all, not by the federal government. So free expression of incitement to violence and race-hate, belittlement of others, threats and invasions of Jewish communities by supporters of Palestinian terrorism are not to be interrupted by the inconvenience of arrests even when such activities run afoul of Canadian laws against inciting to violence and hate expressed targeting an identifiable group.

Indeed, the governing Liberal party, of which Chrystia Freeland has been an outstanding cabinet member  holding influentially prestigious posts, the last being Finance Minister and deputy Prime Minister, rewarding her staunch support of Justin Trudeau's government saw her in full support of isolating Israel as punishment for daring to defend itself against terrorist hordes. This government's very public stance in taking sides by curtailing, then forbidding any kinds of military arms sales to Israel, holding Israel to account for war crimes committed by its adversaries, calling for ceasefires rather than having Israel destroy a terrorist threat, and acceding to the ICC arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister, all expressed the position Canada chose to make.

And nor did Canada, traditionally a primary supporter of Israel, besieged by its Arab neighbours in a series of conflicts and more latterly by Muslim Brotherhood-and Iranian Republic-inspired terrorist groups see it as a betrayal of a fellow Democracy when it began censoring Israel at the United Nations at the presentation yet again of General Assembly censures of the Jewish State, brought against it by fellow Middle East states and the Palestinian Authority which traditionally pays homage to its 'martyrs' by providing them with handsome sums awarded for terrorist strikes against Israel.

It has not been the Trudeau government's failure to stand side by side with a country that shares so much of the values that reflect those of Canadians, but rather its generalized incompetence as a government and its furthering of hugely voter-unpopular stands on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Critical Race Theory that it promotes and which now runs deep in the ethos of Canadian universities, unions, school boards and government departments where skill, experience and merit are no longer considered optimum qualifications for employment, as opposed to minority status, in ethnicity, skin colour, and genderism is.

This is now a government on life support; the Canadian public having decided that the loathed special interest policies of the government, its contempt for the people, its alienating policies, estrangement and disrespect of the provinces, have earned it rejection with a strong majority viewing it as having long passed its prime. An election is in the offing, but one the ruling government evades even though it has lost even the confidence of his Liberal caucus and many in the Liberal cabinet, moving the hugely unpopular PM to finally announce his intention of stepping down.

His most prominent Cabinet supporter, Chrystia Freeland, stepped away when her adored Justin Trudeau lost his 'confidence' in her as Finance Minister, proposing to remove her and replace her with another prime candidate of his choice. Now she, along with a handful of others, is running to replace Trudeau as Liberal head and PM, for that brief period left before an election call is forced on the government by a Parliamentary vote of non-confidence.e

At the recent announcement of Ms. Freeland's intention to contest the Liberal leadership, she was faced with a horde of hecklers, interrupting her speech, shouting phrases like "genocide supporter", "fascist" and "free Palestine!". This to the individual representing a government that had chosen to abandon Canadian Jews to the criminal harassment of 'pro-Palestinian' groups that have for over a year disrupted public life in Canada with their hate-infested marches and threats in Jewish neighbourhoods with no remedial action from the federal government.

Obviously the estrangement and distance and condemnation of Israel by this Canadian government was insufficient to placate the demands made by those consumed with Jew-hate, manifesting their antisemitic views by targeting Israel as an 'Apartheid', 'genocidal', 'colonialist' state. Canada is infested not only with immigrants/refugees/migrants from the Middle East bringing with them to Canada the virulent detestation of Jews and of Israel, and communicating their hatred to traditional Canadians for whom antisemitism is no stranger.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Arlyn McAdorey

Mass Deportations Underway from the U.S. of Illegal Migrants

"We're going to take the handcuffs off ICE [U.S. Immigration an Customs and Enforcement] and let them go arrest criminal aliens, that's what's going to happen."

"What we're telling ICE, you're going to go enforce the immigration law without apology."

"You're going to concentrate on the worst first, public safety threats first, but no one is off the table."

"If they're in the country illegally, they got a problem."

Tom Homan, Trump administration border czar

"It'll begin very early, very quickly. I can't say which cities because things are evolving. And I don't think we want to say what city. You'll see it first-hand."

"We have to get the criminals out of our country. And I think you would agree with that. I don't know how anyone could not agree."

U.S. President Donald J. Trump

Deportation officer making an arrest on December 17, 2024, in New York   AP

 

For the most part, Americans do agree. After all, it was an outstanding to-do item on Mr. Trump's election platform. And he did win the presidential election in November. Which led to his presidential inauguration today. His was a landslide election victory. And when the returning President of the U.S. cautioned that this particular initiative was set to begin very soon, he was right. Try the day following his inauguration, Tuesday.

Either deliberately, or through an unauthorized revelation, the first city to see deportation arrests appears to be Chicago. The Windy City, the city known for hosting the most crime in America. Which has also become a proud -- aside from the third largest city in the United States -- sanctuary city. Which explains in part why it is that Florida has bused large numbers of illegal migrants to Chicago; a gift from a state  that has no wish to accommodate legions of migrants to one that bills itself as a city that will take them.

 

AP Photo

 

Now, federal immigration officers are set to target over 300 individuals who have amassed histories of violent crimes ... on the way to working toward fulfilling the president's promise of large-scale deportations. In Chicago the expectation is that arrests will be ongoing for the week to come. Under President Biden the focus was picking up those who strayed from the border, focusing on those with serious criminal histories, posing national security threats. President Trump is geared to go well beyond that point.

Accordingly there have been intimations that others are set to be arrested as well, such as spouses of tracked criminals, even roommates who though not representing targets themselves, happen to be in the country illegally. Tom Homan as incoming border czar revealed to Fox News that beginning with Chicago (the city where Barack Obama, prepolitical aspirations on a wider scale, worked as a community organizer), and moving on to other cities across the country, federal authorities will be making arrests. 

 

President Trump emphasized on Saturday on NBC News that mass deportations would remain a top priority, without offering dates or cities where the process will begin. Predictably, immigrants themselves as well as groups advocating for them have anticipated Mr. Trump's focus on mass deportations to fulfill a signature pledge of his campaign and will no doubt launch protests at moving forward with his election pledge.

 

Chicago, a sanctuary city since the 1980s, took to limiting how its police force co-operated with federal immigration agents. It has taken to firming up its policies on a number of occasions since, Mr. Trump's first administration eight years earlier, included.

 

                       Border Czar Tom Homan speaks to border guards and national guardsman, alongside Texas governor Gregg Abbott, at Eagle Pass, Texas, November 2024.  AP

 

Egyptian Inflation/Poverty Forcing the Country to "Disinvite" Migrants

A refugee selling Sudanese goods in Giza, Egypt. Heba Khamis - The New York Times

"[Egypt] is treating them like Egyptians, despite the fact that we are not a rich country." 

"There is no country in the world assuming these responsibilities and challenges like here in Egypt."

"We don’t have one single refugee camp — they [foreign migrants/refugees] are fully integrated in society."

Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty 

"I'd like to appeal to the government of Egypt: Give us residence, even if it's a little more expensive [exacting taxation fees on permanent residents who arrived as migrants/refugees]."

"We're facing tough conditions."

Abu Saleh, 32, Syrian 

Working in a small grocery store, Abu Saleh, a Syrian man whose family arrived in Egypt on tourist visas, (whose real name is kept private), has lived for 13 years in Cairo "without a single issue". And then in July he discovered he would no longer be permitted to enroll his son in school without a residence permit. He was informed he would have to return to Syria to renew his family's tourist visas, and then pay $2,000 per person in fees every six months under changed rules.

Cairo claims it has taken in nine million refugees from various unsettled sources, from Syria to Sudan and elsewhere. No mean feat for any country to absorb in an atmosphere of humanitarian welcome for those fleeing untenable, threatening situations, be they civil wars or country-to-country conflict in regional wars, endemic poverty or escaping secular tribal and ethnic animosities. All the more of a burden for a country of 117 million people whose inflationary economy is feeble and cannot sustain additional residents with meagre resources.

Shopping in Cairo.  Credit...Hadeer Mahmoud Ahmed/The New York Times

Egypt exemplified the very picture of a country generously welcoming migrants from across Africa and the Middle East; refugees fleeing conflict and social inequality, searching for stability, security and opportunities to advance a future for their families. Foreigners could be assured of total acceptance on their arrival as newcomers in a country whose population, albeit themselves living at or below the poverty line had compassion for others.

The steady and ongoing arrival of newcomers, however, has elicited a new attitude among government leaders and the population at large. Migrants are being accused of making life more difficult for native Cairenes, driving up rent costs, and introducing female genital mutilation. The wars in neighbouring Gaza, Sudan and Libya have impacted heavily on Egypt. 

Foreigners have been living and working in Egypt irrespective of whether they are refugees, migrant workers or even Westerners seeking an  escape from the coronavirus lockdowns where for 13 years a steady stream of newcomers have flooded Egypt. People from Sudan, Yemen, Eritrea and more recently Palestinians from Gaza. Lax immigration rules have led many not to bother formally registering, much less receiving official permission to remain on a long-term basis.

The civil war in Sudan drove a surge of refugees to Egypt, leading the impoverished Cairo government to a lack of appreciation for the overwhelming presence of foreigners. The result has been policy-tightening. According to analysts and diplomats, the hope was that expressing discontent with their lot in absorbing such great numbers, might serve to alert the international community that they have an obligation, if they hope to evade their own refugee/migrant surge, to economically support Egypt.

 

There is the previous example of Turkey which infamously indulged in the very same ploy, deliberately seeking to blackmail the European Union into financially supporting Turkey's sheltering of millions of refugees from Syria escaping the civil war. Many of whom sought to move on to find haven in Europe by their millions, with Turkey persuading the EU that its generous financial contribution to Turkey's staggering costs in maintaining Syrian refugees would convince it not to open the floodgates to Europe.

 

Sudanese men leaving a mosque after midday prayers in Giza, Egypt. Refugee advocates acknowledge that Egypt needs more resources to handle the influx of newcomers.Credit...Heba Khamis - The New York Times

Egypt's economy was precarious even before the war in Gaza. The conflict in Gaza impacted shipping in the Red Sea when the Yemenite Houthi group began targeting marine  traffic in an aggressively violent piracy invasion with the purpose of striking merchant marine vessels with any connection to Israel, claiming solidarity with Hamas in Gaza. The result has been that shipping companies have been forced to seek a longer route along the Horn of Africa to evade Houthi attacks. Business for the Suez Canal has deeply decreased accordingly, and Egypt has felt the financial pinch to the tune of $7 billion in revenue lost.

 

In an act of tightening the rules and shedding some of its foreign resident burden, Egypt has begun expelling Sudanese refugees by rounding them up, detaining and enacting summary deportations. Syrians are now facing the choice of paying thousands of dollars in 'taxes' to the Egyptian government for the privilege -- and such it is -- of remaining in Egypt.

Photo: Embrace the Middle East